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A review by grandmaleah
Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS by Myeongseok Kang, BTS
3.5
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up (because bangtan)
This is essentially a crash course in BTS—something like a history book—but definitely not a memoir. I thought the start was genuinely promising as far as meeting my expectations. There were a lot of personal feelings and recountings that brought the 'characters' of BTS to life and endeared them to the reader. I was so charmed by their frank impressions of one another and growth from seven individuals to a cohesive team.
As the book reaches the start of the great BTS crescendo, the pacing takes a turn. It's like a brief timeline of every success and, to me, read like a company-washed advertisement for their success story. Granted, there were mentions of struggling with mental health, physical health, isolation, etc., which I really appreciated, but none of it was new or surprising. It's all things we've heard the members talk about before.
Writing content aside, the book is beautifully laid out and full of QR codes as references—can all nonfiction books with references use this format?! It's so handy! The physical book is quite hefty and the cover is gorgeous.
Overall, if you're expecting to learn something new, you're looking in the wrong place. If you want to take a long journey through BTS's history (and feel proud of them the entire time), look no further.
This is essentially a crash course in BTS—something like a history book—but definitely not a memoir. I thought the start was genuinely promising as far as meeting my expectations. There were a lot of personal feelings and recountings that brought the 'characters' of BTS to life and endeared them to the reader. I was so charmed by their frank impressions of one another and growth from seven individuals to a cohesive team.
As the book reaches the start of the great BTS crescendo, the pacing takes a turn. It's like a brief timeline of every success and, to me, read like a company-washed advertisement for their success story. Granted, there were mentions of struggling with mental health, physical health, isolation, etc., which I really appreciated, but none of it was new or surprising. It's all things we've heard the members talk about before.
Writing content aside, the book is beautifully laid out and full of QR codes as references—can all nonfiction books with references use this format?! It's so handy! The physical book is quite hefty and the cover is gorgeous.
Overall, if you're expecting to learn something new, you're looking in the wrong place. If you want to take a long journey through BTS's history (and feel proud of them the entire time), look no further.